Description

Feist is a multi-award winning, beautifully handcrafted action game. It follows the story of a fragile little fur creature and its desperate attempt to rescue its mate from the clutches of a pack of malicious predators. The journey to the heart of a mysterious forest soon becomes a savage and merciless fight for survival as everything in this mesmerizing but deadly environment wants to eat you.

The vivid world of Feist is brought to life by a highly dynamic and emergent gameplay. All elements interact with each other and produce unpredictable interactions. Enemies are armed with a complex AI and chase the player with the physical intensity of wild beasts – reminding him of how small he is.

Feists tension is emphasized by an enchanting and melancholic Score and a cinematic style reminiscent of Jim Henson’s "The Dark Cristal" (1982), Yuriy Norshteyn’s "Hedgehog in the Fog". (1975) and Maurice Sendaks "Where the Wild Things Are" (1963).

History

Feist was developed by Swiss Studio Bits & Beasts (Adrain Stutz & Florian Faller). The project started in 2008 and soon gained attention and critical praise for the dynamic gameplay and the visual style (Unity Awards: Best Overall Design & Best Visual Design).

In subsequent years, when popular platformers like Limbo took up silhouette-based game graphics, Adrian and Florian focused on the initial core features of Feist. Instead of using scripted sequences or genre typical elements like puzzles and platforms they intensified the physic based combats and refined the emergent, AI-driven gameplay to create a unique and savage survival experience.

Feist was first released for PC, Mac and Linux in Summer 2015 by Finji. It will be available for PS4 and Xbox One on December 13th.

Features

A rich and vivid world full of details, strange beasts and gorgeous natural environments.

A desperate, savage survival experience. Feists combats are raw, unprettified and physical intens like real-life fights. They can can take a chaotic course, produce collateral damage and let you feel the heat of the moment.

Enemies are more than moving obstacles. Armed with a complex AI, a versatile mix of traditional and procedural animations and a multitude of abilities they feel alive and untamed and interact with objects, weapons, traps, the environment and other creatures to the same extent the player does.

A highly dynamic and emergent gameplay. All elements can interact with each other and, in their interplay, produce surprising side effects and unpredictable interactions. They don’t only serve a single function and can be used in a multitude of ways.

Illusion of a lively world. Feists game mechanics always feel organic and have a very low level of abstraction. They never appear as artificial elements or reveal themselves simply as constructs of rules, as they follow completely the logic of the fictional world.

A striking visual style with an analog look reminding of nostalgic illustrations awakening to life.

An enchanting, spooky atmosphere and a haunting soundtrack by Tomek Kolczynski.

Selected Articles

"Hot damn! Feist looks phenomenal. The look, described as 'a cinematic physical-effects style reminiscent of Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, or Hedgehog in the Fog,' is brilliant. Some of the best game art I've seen." - Jordan Devore, Destructoid

"Feist debuted as a Mac-only beta in 2008, paving the way for other high contrast platform puzzlers like Limbo and Badland. Since then it's evolved into a faster, more combat-heavy physics based platformer." - , Gamerevolution

"Feist is fantastic. I like Feist better than Limbo." - John Romero, id Software

"Feist is still as striking as it was over half a decade ago, and it has evolved with the engine it was built in, Unity, to become something more than just visually beautiful." - Chris Priestman, Gamasutra

"While playing Feist, it's easy to feel as though you're interacting with a live painting rather than a video game. Enemies feel like they move organically and react to the moves that you make." - Chinh Tran, Vgchartz

"Handmade like an Aston Martin or a bespoke suit, finely crafted like small-batch bourbon, imagined as art, loved as a child. Feist almost never reveals itself as a game while you’re playing it, which is an absolute triumph today, and a throwback to the platformers of old. Enemy AI is top notch." - Patrick Vail, Clickindie

"Feist is remarkably tense for a platformer. The most brutal thing about Feist is how desperate its encounters are: they’re protracted, stressful, improvised fights to the death. Combat encounters feel like real-life brawls: graceless, messy, and staggeringly violent. At a time when the word ‘survival’ is bandied about frequently in relation to PC games, Feist offers a stranger, much rawer take on the concept. The world’s tension is heightened by the music: a quiet, forlorn ambience shrouding the woods of Feist in a supernatural melancholy. There are moments of startling beauty in Feist." - Shaun, Pcgamer

"Feist is as beautiful as it is dangerous." - Keith Winters, Sirusgaming

"Feist is doing away with scripted sequences and giving players just enough leeway to bounce back from a near fatal error. When things go pear-shaped, they only get more exciting. There's a purity of vision in its savage scenarios. Feist is a delectable morsels of a game that remains just as entertaining to revisit as it is the first time around." - Jeffrey Matulef, Eurogamer

"The thing about the enemies in Feist, be they little bees or caterpillar like creatures, is that they are all intelligent." - Kelly Stretch, G3ar

"If Feist were a book, it would be the grimdark horror version of Where the Wild Things Are, except everything wants to eat you and there is no supper for you waiting at home." - Caitlin Cooke, Destructoid

"Everything Wants To Kill You In Feist, And Your Only Weapon Will Be A Physics-Based Environment." - Chris Priestman, Siliconera

"The atmosphere is both creepy and awe-inspiring. The visuals are really detailed for such a simple looking game and the gameplay is really interesting as well." - Thaddeus Adams, Constantly Calibrating

"Feist is a great game that is both fast paced and challenging." - Adam Koper, Nouse

"Feist is unsettling in all the right ways. Feist is absolutely gorgeous." - Kristian Wilson, Indieruckus

"As opposed to most platformers, Feist’s foes don’t march without understanding forward or follow preset paths, but alternatively react to the player." - , Greatgameon

"Feist is a game which evokes primal feelings. The game’s larger beasts chase you with an intensity and violence that remind you of how small you are. If you’re interested in a game with fantastic art style and ambience, this short romp will leave you mesmerized." - Francisco Techel, Vox Ludicus

"Feist is beautiful. Great ideas that push the element of survival, and gives the player the freedom to fight back in any manner they see fit. The puzzle elements are well crafted and feel organic, as if they’re linked to the world itself." - Patrick Kennedy, BagoGames

"The evil creatures are merciless; instead of having determined movements, they are all controlled by AI and it’s nearly impossible to predict their movements and actions, and this is the same for traps scattered throughout the different stages. These can also trigger some physics-based secondary effects, and may surprise the player during their run. The only way to avoid it is to take advantage of the same physics with weapons and items." - Bhernardo Viana, Indie Game Mag

"Each enemy in this spooky world has a complex AI that takes advantage of the ever shifting landscape." - Jeffrey Matulef, Eurogamer

"The story is so simple and pared down, but it is emotionally powerful. The game takes some of Limbo's strengths and delivers a very different game experience. The visuals are actually very beautiful." - Brendan, Egamer

Monetization Permission

Bits & Beasts allows for the contents of Feist to be published through video broadcasting services for any commercial or non-commercial purposes. Monetization of videos created containing assets from Feist is legally & explicitly allowed by Bits & Beasts. This permission can be found in writing at //playfeist.com/presskit/sheet.php?p=feist.

Additional Links

About Bits & Beasts

Boilerplate
Bits & Beasts is a small independent game studio based in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 2013 by Adrian Stutz and Florian Faller, Bits & Beasts has released its debut game Feist on July 23rd.

More information
More information on Bits & Beasts, our logo & relevant media are available here.